House backs push for intelligence post

September 18, 2004|By The Washington Post.

WASHINGTON — Creation of a national intelligence director who would wield broader powers than the CIA chief enjoys--a key recommendation of the Sept. 11 commission--drew close to fruition Friday as House Republican leaders signaled they will join Senate leaders and the White House in embracing the idea.

But President Bush and House leaders favor narrower budgetary and planning powers for the director, possibly setting up a clash next month with senators and commission supporters.

For weeks, House GOP leaders had stressed their independent approach to the commission's recommendations, saying they had plenty of experts within their chamber, and ridiculing Democrats who suggested the commission's roughly 40 proposals should be enacted with few questions. But Friday--one day after the White House submitted language calling for the national intelligence director and other government changes--Majority Leader Tom DeLay's spokesman, Stuart Roy, said the House will introduce a bill next week that "will largely track the president's proposal."

That still leaves many issues unresolved. Powerful lawmakers are resisting the commission's main recommendations to revamp congressional oversight of intelligence and security matters. Bush and House leaders, meanwhile, oppose the panel's call for disclosing how much the government spends on intelligence efforts.

A bipartisan Senate bill introduced Wednesday generally tracks the Sept. 11 commission's proposals in several areas, including the creation of an intelligence director with authority over budgets and personnel for much of the nation's intelligence community. The White House on Thursday sent lawmakers 23 pages of proposed legislative language that also embraces a national intelligence director, albeit with somewhat narrower powers.

The White House, backed by House leaders, also wants to keep classified the sum the government spends on intelligence operations. The amount--frequently estimated at about $40 billion annually in news accounts--should be made public, according to the Sept. 11 commission and the Senate bill, sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.). Their bill would authorize the director to establish "national intelligence centers" to "integrate capabilities from across the intelligence community." The White House plan would not.